Memorandum of Meeting at which Mr. H. T. Johnson, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Installations and Environment (ASN (I&E)), met with Mr. Chris Paul, Military Legislative Advisor to Senator John McCain (R. Ariz.), at 1315 in Room 4E523 at the Pentagon. Commander Edward W. Brown, USN, Legislative Liaison; Commander Fred Latrash, USN, Office of Senator John McCain (R. Ariz); Commander Robert E. Vincent 11, JAGC, USN, IAT Recorder; and Captain James A. Noel, USMC, IAT Recorder, were present as well.

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-01-145G, GAO's Congressional Protocols, November 2000. This report supersedes GAO-01-145G, GAO's Congressional Protocols November 2000, and GAO-03-198G, GAO's Congressional Protocols: Addendum I, November 2002. This document contains updated protocols governing GAO's work for the Congress. Since we implemented the original protocols in November 2000, we have monitored their application, and several areas were identified as needing additional clarity to enhance our ability to better serve the Congress. The refinements in this edition reflect feedback from Members of Congress and their staffs since the original implementation and, more specifically, comments received between November 2003 and June 2004 on proposed revisions to the protocols. These protocols continue to provide a means of holding GAO accountable for commitments made to the Congress and ensuring that GAO is consistent in dealing with all committees and Members. In order to address existing and growing workload imbalances and provide more transparency about our decision-making criteria, these revised protocols clarify our authority to conduct work, delineate our priorities for initiating work, and identify the factors we consider before accepting congressional requests for work."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Oil for Food program was established by the United Nations and Iraq in 1996 to address concerns about the humanitarian situation after international sanctions were imposed in 1990. The program allowed the Iraqi government to use the proceeds of its oil sales to pay for food, medicine, and infrastructure maintenance. The program appears to have helped the Iraqi people. From 1996 through 2001, the average daily food intake increased from 1,300 to 2,300 calories. From 1997-2002, Iraq sold more than $67 billion of oil through the program and issued $38 billion in letters of credit to purchase commodities. However, over the years numerous allegations have surfaced concerning potential fraud and program mismanagement. GAO (1) reports on its estimates of the illegal revenue acquired by the former Iraqi regime in violation of U.N. sanctions, (2) provides observations on program administration; and (3) describes the current and future challenges in achieving food security."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In February 2004, we issued our opinions on the calendar year 2003 financial statements of the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF), the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF), and the FSLIC Resolution Fund (FRF). We also issued our opinion on the effectiveness of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) internal controls as of December 31, 2003, and our evaluation of FDIC's compliance with significant provisions of selected laws and regulations for the three funds for the year ended December 31, 2003. The purpose of this report is to discuss issues identified during our audits of the 2003 financial statements regarding accounting procedures and internal controls that could be improved and to recommend improvements to address these issues. Although these issues were not material in relation to the financial statements, we believe they warrant management's attention. We conducted our audits in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For many years, GAO has reported on the widespread negative impact of poor information security within federal agencies and has identified it as a governmentwide high-risk issue since 1997. Legislation designed to improve information security was enacted in October 2000. It was strengthened in December 2002 by new legislation, the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), which incorporated important new requirements. This testimony discusses (1) the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) recent report to the Congress required by FISMA on the government's overall information security posture, (2) the reported status of efforts by 24 of the largest agencies to implement federal information security requirements, (3) opportunities for improving the usefulness of performance measurement data, and (4) progress by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop related standards and guidance."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Interstate pipelines carrying natural gas and hazardous liquids (such as petroleum products) are safer to the public than other modes of freight transportation. The Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), the federal agency that administers the national regulatory program to ensure safe pipeline transportation, has been undertaking a broad range of activities to make pipeline transportation safer. However, the number of serious accidents--those involving deaths, injuries, and property damage of $50,000 or more--has not fallen. Among other things, OPS takes enforcement action against pipeline operators when safety problems are found. OPS has several enforcement tools to require the correction of safety violations. It can also assess monetary sanctions (civil penalties). This testimony is based on ongoing work for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and for other committees, as required by the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002. The testimony provides preliminary results on (1) the effectiveness of OPS's enforcement strategy and (2) OPS's assessment of civil penalties."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This document is a companion product to GAO-04-916. This document presents the results of GAO's surveys of local food stamp office supervisors. The purpose of the surveys was to determine the views of local food stamp supervisors on whether implementation of the options had achieved expected results. We developed eight surveys, one for each of the Farm Bill options, to obtain this information. We mailed out a total of 1,328 surveys to eight random samples of local food stamp office supervisors. Each of the eight samples comprised local food stamp offices in states that had implemented that option. The response rates varied between 74.0 percent and 86.1 percent. A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology and a discussion of the summary of selected survey results are contained in our report entitled Food Stamp Program: Farm Bill Options Ease Administrative Burden, but Opportunities Exist to Streamline Participant Reporting Rules among Programs (GAO-04-916, Washington, D.C.: September 21, 2004). While this e-supplement contains information on the results from local food stamp offices, another e-supplement (GAO-04-1058SP) contains information on the results from our survey of food stamp administrators. …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Established in March 2002, the Homeland Security Advisory System was designed to disseminate information regarding the risk of terrorist acts to federal, state, and local government agencies, private industry, and the public. However, this system generated questions among these entities regarding whether they were receiving the necessary information to respond appropriately to heightened alerts. GAO obtained information on how the Homeland Security Advisory System operates, including the process used to notify federal, state, and local government agencies, private industry, and the public of changes in the threat level. GAO also reviewed literature on risk communication to identify principles and factors to be considered when determining when, what, and how information should be disseminated about threat level changes. Additionally, GAO researched what type of information had been provided to federal, state, and local agencies, private industry, and the public regarding terrorist threats. GAO also identified protective measures that were suggested for these entities to implement during code-orange alerts. Last, GAO identified additional information requested by recipients of threat information."

BRAC 2005 Intelligence Joint Cross-Service Group Meeting Minutes of January 16, 2004. The document is redacted and includes the BRAC 2005 Military Value Analysis Training Module brief (PowerPoint slides).

BRAC 2005 Intelligence Joint Cross-Service Group Meeting Minutes of March 16, 2004. The document is redacted and includes the Military Value Report brief (PowerPoint slides).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Which entity has authority to approve retirement and medical benefits for the Jefferson County Waterway and Navigation District Board members: the Jefferson County Commissioners Court or the Waterway Navigation District Board (RQ-0243-GA)

Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus 2002-2004 Executive Committee list of contact information, club information, and website links.

Blank probation data survey containing a series of questions related to the probationary population in a particular location, with instructions for filling out the survey.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Farmers receive about $15 billion annually in federal payments to help produce major crops, such as corn, cotton, rice, and wheat. The Farm Program Payments Integrity Act of 1987 (1987 Act) limits payments to individuals and entities--such as corporations and partnerships--that are "actively engaged in farming." This testimony is based on GAO's report, Farm Program Payments: USDA Needs to Strengthen Regulations and Oversight to Better Ensure Recipients Do Not Circumvent Payment Limitations (GAO-04-407, April 30, 2004). Specifically, GAO (1) determined how well USDA's regulations limit payments and (2) assessed USDA's oversight of the 1987 Act."

Transcript of the twelfth public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States held June 16, 2004 at the NTSB Conference Center in Washington, D.C. The two-day hearing focused on two distinct topics: the 9-11 Plot and the federal government's immediate response to the attacks on September 11, 2001.On June 16 at the National Transportation Safety Board Conference Center, the Commission heard from several of the federal government's top law enforcement and intelligence experts on al Qaeda and the 9-11 plot. The hearing resumed on June 17, with the top military and civilian aviation officials testifying about their agencies' responses to the 9-11 attacks. In addition to witness testimony, three staff statements were presented during the course of the proceedings.

Official statement issued by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States describing preliminary findings regarding the conspiracy that produced the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Official statement issued by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States describing preliminary findings regarding the nature of the enemy that carried out the September 11 attacks.

Custom summary report and Account QuickReport for the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus for June 16, 2004 through March 11, 2005.

Reconciliation report with an ending account balance of $2,802.57 reconciled for the period ending on June 16, 2004.

Custom summary report for the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus from June 2002-June 2004.

Deposit summary of $755.00 made on June 16, 2004.

Blank parole data survey containing a series of questions related to the parole population in a particular location, with instructions for filling out the survey.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Tomakazu Kasai. Kasai entered flight training in April, 1942, learning to fly at a field on Hokkaido. When Kasai finished training in November 1943, he was qualified to fly Japanese Zero fighter plane and was asigned to Navy Air Group 263, stationed at Motsuyama City. When Kasai was assigned to the front, he went to Guam. SHortly before the American invasion, he was transferred to Pelelui. At Pelelui, Kasai's task was to intercept American aircraft in the area. Before the Americans invaded the Palaus, Kasai was transferred to Davao, in the Philippines. Kasai was transferred to Air Grpoup 201 and was assigned to bring aircraft back to the Philippines from Japan. During the American invasion of the Philippines, Kasai served as a fighter escort for kamikazes. Kasia indicates the various levels of training the kamikaze pilots received prior to their missions. Kasai was present in Nagasaki Prefecture when the second atomic bomb was dropped. He was stationed at Omura and recalls seeing the mushroom cloud at a distance. After the surrender, Kasai was told simply to go home, which he eventually did. Kasai also recalls ten victories over …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Binkley. Binkley joined the Navy Seabees in July of 1943. He served as a Seaman 2nd Class. He served with the 581st Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU). They were commissioned at Port Hueneme, California in January of 1944 with personnel from the 123rd Battalion. They shipped out 13 March and traveled to Pearl Harbor. Their unit took over all maintenance and minor construction of the Naval Ammunition Depot. Binkley worked in a number of areas including construction, electrical work, censoring the mail and other postal work. He shares his living and working experiences on the island. He was discharged in March of 1946.